


Hope Dies Last

by Denizen_of_Dreamland



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Canon Dialogue, Canon-Typical Behavior, Dark Humor, Gen, Humor, POV Adachi Tohru, POV First Person, Roleswap, Sadism, Sexual Humor, Some Action, Violent Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:21:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27226486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denizen_of_Dreamland/pseuds/Denizen_of_Dreamland
Summary: Coming to Inaba was supposed to be a complete drag. And it was, for the first couple of months. Living in a shitty apartment, working at a dull dead-end job where everyone treats me like a rookie, talking to insufferable idiots all day while getting drunk alone at night... I thought it was literally gonna bore me to death, but I didn’t give a shit about it because life is pointless and the world sucks anyways.But, of course, this hick town just had to prove me wrong.First, there was the Midnight Channel and the whole deal with Yamano being my soulmate. After that, there were Shadows and Personas and whatever that weird bear-like thing was. And, then, all of a sudden, a dead body showed up!Y’know, after Dojima and I fell into the TV World, I thought things couldn’t get any more exciting. But this town turned out to be full of surprises, huh?There might be some hope left for me if that’s the case…
Relationships: Adachi Tohru & Dojima Ryotaro
Kudos: 5





	Hope Dies Last

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old fic that I never finished. I had the whole plot planned out and everything, but I just never got around to writing it, and now it only has four chapters and bits of chapters five and six. The reason why I hadn't posted it was precisely because I was afraid of abandoning it midway through, but now that I know for sure that I'm not going to continue this, I thought I could archive it here in case someone still wants to read it. After all, I still like it, and I wouldn't want to lose this work, so hopefully there's other people out there who will enjoy it too!
> 
> In short: I'm warning you now, if you don't want to read an unfinished fic, turn back. No hard feelings :)
> 
> In any case, I'll be proofreading the chapters I do have and posting them over the next couple of weeks, so don't be surprised if this "abandoned" fic gets updated.
> 
> Ah, one more thing. Characterizations might be off, partly because I was still trying to get the hang of the characters when I wrote this, but mostly for comedic effect.
> 
> Anyways, sorry for the long a/n. Onto the fic!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this first chapter let’s just pretend it is realistically possible to steal a phone from a department store in plain daylight and get away with it because I was supposed to rewrite that scene in later drafts to make it more realistic, but, yeah, as I said, that's not happening anymore, so this is what we have.

“Stop right there, thief! This is the Inaba Police! Put your hands up where I can see them!”

I unholster my gun, twirl it around my finger, and, with a swift hand movement, I point it directly forward. It’s quick, gracious, and feels right, but I don’t have time to dwell on the feeling. I grip the barrel with one hand, grasp the handle with the other, and carefully position a finger over the trigger, as I lower my head so I can see exactly where I’m pointing the weapon. My hands are sweaty and my face feels strained as I put on a frown to intimidate the culprit. This is the moment I’ve been waiting for since I got sent to Inaba. I can’t ruin it, no matter what.

First and foremost, I need to be careful. The thief also has a gun. One false move and I could be dead. I need to be faster, smarter, and more assertive than the thug in front of me if I want to survive this. It’s a kill or be killed world out there, folks!

I aim.

“Adachi! The hell are you doing?!”

I yelp like a chick and almost drop the gun, but I manage to catch it in the air and avert a catastrophe.

Dammit, Dojima-san, always jolting me out of my fantasies! Don’t you realize that the world would be a much better place if we actually could catch a dangerous criminal for once? Or if there actually was a dangerous criminal running loose for a change?

I turn around to face Dojima, who’s wearing a grey shirt and a red tie and with a jacket perched over his shoulder, as usual. With one hand, he’s holding the binder folder where he’s keeping all of the documents relevant to the case.

He glares holes into me with a stern face. His continued silence speaks volumes.

“I--uh... I was practicing!” I choke out. “Practicing for. You know, for when we catch the perp!”

“The perp is a kid, remember?! Do you have any idea what kinda crap we would have to deal with if you ever held a kid at gunpoint?!” Dojima sighs. He pinches the bridge of his nose, calms himself down a bit, and gestures towards the gun. “Come on, don’t play around with that. If you get someone killed, I’m not gonna be the one to defend you in court.”

Biker gangs, novice thieves, and rowdy children are as bad as it gets out here in this shithole. How boring.

“Yes, sir!” I salute, twirl the gun around my finger once more, if only to show off, and I place it back in its holster. “So, find anything new on the case?”

“Yeah, a few things. One, he always wears a hoodie, so no one knows exactly what his face looks like. But he does have black hair.”

“Well, that doesn’t narrow it down at all.”

“Shut it, Adachi.” Dojima frowns. “Anyways. Another thing is that he knows where the few cameras are, so he always manages to face away from them or avoid them altogether. Based on witness accounts, he’s thin and about… this high.”

Dojima places the hand with the binder at around the height of his hip. I squint at it and try to picture a person that fits the description. I’m, uh… Having a bit of trouble, though. He did say he was a kid, but… I’d expect the average teenage boy to be a bit taller than that.

“Wait. How old’s our thief, again?” I ask.

“A grade schooler, I’d say. Middle schooler at most.”

Ah… It’s not a big deal. There were much worse criminals back in the city. There were many more child delinquents too. This is nothing.

“No way!” I open my eyes wide in a show of fake shock. “And he’s already nabbing phones directly from the shelves of Junes? Man, that kid’s gonna grow up to be a real piece of work.”

“That shouldn’t be a source of admiration, Adachi. I’m worried that the kid is already going down the wrong path this early in his life.” Dojima pauses and shakes his head. “... Well, that’s why our job is to catch him and set him straight. Did you find anything?”

Ah… I dreaded that question. But now that I’m facing Dojima, there’s no way to avoid it. I brace myself for another one of his outbursts.

I fess up. “Not really...”

“Then what the hell have you been doing all this time?! Playing around with your damn gun?!”

“No no no no no, that’s not--!” I put up my hands defensively and wave them around with a stupid dorky smile. “I-I’ve been searching! But I didn’t find anything…”

There really is nothing here. No evidence, no clues, no thieves, no nothing. My whole image might be an act, but I’m not kidding this time. This place is empty and barren and it’s worthless to investigate here. But Dojima ordered me to search here… Changing his mind is going to be a different issue altogether.

“Just look.” I gesture around. “This place hasn’t been touched in ages! They don’t even have any clerks around! Those discount posters have been there for months!”

Dojima doesn’t seem convinced. What a drag. “So  _ what?  _ If anything, that should just make it easier to look for evidence.”

“You don’t understand. Not even the thief has been bothered to look here. I mean…” I chuckle. “We’re dealing with a phone thief, not with a TV thief.”

“But he must’ve gone through here if he wanted to get to the phones! There must be  _ some _ kind of clue.”

I sigh. By this point, Dojima is just searching for excuses to make my life harder. Not like it’s the first time it’s happened, of course, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying.

“Where? These shelves are practically untouched, and don’t get me started on the TVs.”

Dojima groans. “What about them?”

I walk past Dojima towards the TVs and lean down until I’m at the screen’s level. “See? They are starting to gather up dust! Nobody even cleans them, or does so much as look at them.” I glance down at the price tag and gasp dramatically. “Geez, of course everyone ignores them! These are super expensive! Though I have to admit, they are very good-looking too.”

“Adachi…” Dojima growls between his teeth like a wild cat after his prey. “Quit wasting your time and get back to work.”

Shit, he sounds  _pissed._ Quick, Tohru, think! You need to say something quick to lighten the mood before he kicks you out of the force on the spot. Hmm… How about…? 

I chuckle awkwardly. “Are you sure you don’t want to invest in a new TV?”

The next thing I feel is the pain of the binder folder being slammed against the back of my head. I lose my balance, I tumble forward, and I know Dojima didn’t intend to make me fall, but, dammit, I can see myself crashing into the TV and breaking the screen and having to pay a price so high I can’t even pay it with my fucking _life._ Okay, granted, I deserved that hit and it’s my own fault that I can’t keep my feet on the ground, but right now I’m just terrified of hearing the sound of glass shattering and of feeling that hit against the wall. But… You know what? To hell with that. My life already sucks, so what’s the difference?

Instead, I hear a strange UFO-like sound and I keep falling past the wall. I open my eyes, but I just find empty space, no, empty space and fog, and suddenly I have no idea where I am, and I feel a pair of hands desperately grasping my leg trying to bring me back, but it’s too late, and I fall headfirst into the void, cutting off all contact with the world I thought I knew. Good riddance, I guess.

I get the idea that my life should be flashing in front of my eyes, but then I realize that there’s not much of my life to reflect back on, and the thought leaves a bitter taste on my mouth. Or, wait, is that bile? I  _ am _ starting to feel a bit nauseous. My screams mesh with Dojima’s and break the crushing silence of this void.

I fold my arms over my head, but it doesn’t help break the fall at all. I let out a painful groan as I press my hand against the cold floor. Oh, fuck this. My head throbs and my shoulder aches and I swear I literally bounced when my body met the ground, and god -- where am I? My sight is blurry, but I can’t tell if it’s ‘cause of the fog or ‘cause of my current state, and I feel so confused, exhausted, and disoriented all at once that I could go to sleep right here and now if only to get rid of that uncomfortable feeling. Maybe then I’ll wake up in my futon and realize I just had one too many beers with Dojima.

Speaking of which… Where is Dojima? I heard him screaming, so surely he must be somewhere around here.

It doesn’t take long to find him. Dojima is lying on the ground near me, trying to sit up. He whimpers as he puts his hand over his back and slowly brings his legs towards his chest. Heh, it seems like his old tired body isn’t taking this very well.

“Ow… What the hell was that?” Dojima squints. Thankfully, he seems more worried than angry. Well, of course. Despite how easily he can lose his temper, Dojima is a rational man. He must realize that this isn’t the right time to be angry.

“I… I have no idea.” I scramble to my feet, run to him, and hold out both hands. “Are you alright, Dojima-san?”

“I think so.” Dojima ignores me and gets up on his own. He checks for his gun, seems relieved that it’s still there, and looks around. “Where the hell are we?”

“Hey, don’t ask me! I don’t even know how we got here in the first place!”

Dojima looks at me with a pained frown. On second thought, he isn’t keeping his cool because he’s rational, but because he doesn’t have the energy to be mad. Typical of him. I should’ve known. “Yeah, seriously, how  _ did _ you do that?”

I cock my head. “Do what?”

“Going through a damn TV!”

So I did go through the TV… I really didn’t see where I was going. I just knew that I was at the Junes electronic department and then I tripped and fell and suddenly I was in this world. It hadn’t sunk in that the TV itself was the portal that led me here. In fact, I wouldn’t even have entertained the possibility because of how bizarre it is. Just like something out of some child’s fairy tale.

“I don’t know, I didn’t know I could do that!” I say. “Shit… How do we get out now?!”

_ "You _ tell me!” Dojima points at me. “You brought us here!”

I take a step back for the sake of my personal safety. “Okay, okay, let’s calm down… If we came in through a TV, then maybe we can get out through one?”

“Yeah, that makes as much sense as a situation like this can make.” Dojima glances up. “But we can’t get back to where we came in. We’ll have to find another way.”

He’s right. It’s not like we can somehow float back to the skies and find that TV again. I start walking without a destination, but I stop when I notice what’s on the ground.

“Is this… a crime scene?”

“Don’t be stupid, Adachi. For there to be a crime scene, there would have to be living creatures.” Dojima sighs again. He looks down casually, notices the outlines of human corpses, and seems to recover some reason. He glances at me with a tinge of desperation. “... Could there be living creatures here?”

I put on my best worried-but-resigned expression. “We can’t rule it out.”

“Well… We have no choice but to investigate. I’m sure we’ll find some evidence if we just start walking around.” Dojima takes out his gun and begins walking forward cautiously. I follow.

I can’t hold back a genuine smile at the thought of exploring an unknown world all by ourselves. Finally, some kind of action to disrupt the monotony of everyday life! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for  _ something,_ anything at all, to happen in this shithole. I guess this is it. My compensation for getting sent to the boonies to work a lame job with a man who treats me like some sort of rookie. 

This is like being plunged right into the age of exploration, when people were actually willing to risk their lives and their comfort for the sake of thrills (and money and power and social standing, but that’s another story). Then again, that was also the age of monarchies, when the rich and powerful had the rest of the world at their mercy and there was no chance of ascending in the hierarchy. But that hasn’t really changed much, has it?

Dojima and I charge forward with our guns in hand, squinting through the heavy fog, keeping our eyes peeled for anything that moves. After all, there’s no telling what we’ll find in this weird realm. This little “adventure” of ours should be exhilarating.

Except, it’s not.

There’s absolutely nothing here. It’s excruciatingly boring. There’s only fog and emptiness and an uncomfortably loud white noise in the background.

My one chance to do something exciting and it turns out to be a scam. Geez… The world really does hate me, huh? Well, who cares? The feeling is mutual.

I don’t know for how long we have been walking when my stomach growls and I become aware of all the sensations in my body. Damn… I would’ve rather gotten lost in my thoughts, blissfully ignorant of how much of a toll this is taking on me. My limbs hurt and I feel so… so… sluggish. My head is also pounding, weakly and barely noticeably, but I get the feeling that it can only get worse. 

“Ugh…” I groan. “I’m hungry.”

Well, I’ll admit that was not the best way to put all of that, but it’ll do.

Without warning, Dojima comes to a halt. I bump against his back, as if I’d been too absent minded to notice that he stopped walking. This time it’s not forced, though. This time I do feel too light headed to see where I am going.

Instead of getting annoyed, Dojima just sighs. “Eloquent as always, Adachi…”

Wait, is that sarcasm? Is Dojima using sarcasm on  _ me? _ Hey, I’m offended!

Before I can protest, he continues.

“But you are right. We’ve been walking for quite some time. We should rest here for a while.”

Dojima looks around and at the ground to make sure we’re safe and then he plops down, letting out yet another tired old man groan. I turn around and sit down close to him, with my back pressed against his, so I can… well, watch his back. Literally. It doesn’t even take a command for me to know that’s what he wants me to do. After all, that’s what “partners” are supposed to do. Specially in a place like this, where the fog and the endless empty space would make any dangers hard to see, so we can’t let our guard down if we want to make it out of this alive.

...

Do I  _ want _ to make it out of this alive?

...

Ugh. What’s the use of thinking about it? Dying won’t accomplish anything, but it’s not like I have anything to do with my life. What happens, happens, I guess. I just don’t want Dojima to grill me over failing to have his back.

I start fiddling with my gun. If only there were some monsters I could shoot or some shit like that. I wish I had something to eat. Or a can of beer. That’d be great right now. I lick my lips, feeling kinda thirsty.

“You think there’s something in the fog?” Dojima asks.

I bolt up from my hunched position. “Uh… Maybe. Why? Do you also feel… you know?”

“I was wondering if you felt it too.” He says. Every time he talks I can feel his back rising against mine and then softening again. It’s kinda weird but oddly fascinating. “Could this be some sort of secret basement inside of Junes?”

“Hrm… I don’t think so.” I can’t explain exactly how I am so sure about that, but I am. This place is nowhere in Junes, maybe not even in Inaba. It feels completely different.

“Well, wherever we are, we should get out of here before this fog drains all of our energy. Just give me a moment to gather my bearings.”

He rests his head against mine. Now,  _ this _ is making me uncomfortable. I understand you’re my boss and everything, Dojima-san, but even I have boundaries.

Oh, god. I’m. So. Fucking. Bored. It’s torturous. I wish I could be anywhere but here, doing anything other than waiting until some fragile old man and I asphyxiate in the heavy fog.

Tired of staring at my gun, which I already know like the back of my hand, I put it away and instead decide to play with my lighter. I flick it open and close, open and close, open and close… I don’t see the appeal. It’s the metallic equivalent of a stress ball, and it doesn’t make me feel any less stressed or bored. In fact, the clicking noise it makes everytime I open or close it would be enough to make any man go nuts.

Apparently, Dojima hears it.

“Hey, Adachi. Since you can’t stay still for five minutes, why don’t you give me a light?”

Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. I see his hand go over my shoulder, holding out a cigarette. I repress a huff and light it for him. His hand retreats and the intoxicating smell of smoke soon reaches me. Dammit, Dojima-san. This isn’t good for my headache.

“Can we get going now?” I ask, throwing my head back over Dojima’s shoulder like a little kid. He instantly jerks away from the unwelcome touch.

“Will you look at that? Someone’s in a rush to get things done, for once. Wait.” He suddenly jumps to his feet and I abruptly fall against the floor. “What day is today?!”

Woah, Dojima just won the prize for random question of the week! We could be lost here in this world for god knows how long, we could get attacked by some kind of weird magical creature, or we could die from an allergic reaction to the drug-infused fog, but what he cares about right now is about knowing what day it is. Good to know he’s got his priorities straight.

I look up at him sheepishly. “Uhh… April 11th?”

“Shit!” Dojima starts. “My nephew arrives in town today!”

I smile. “Well, then it’s a good thing we fell in here today of all days!”

“Adachi, you idiot! I have to go pick him up at the station!” He runs a hand through his hair, bites on his cigarette, and starts wandering back and forth. “I  _ knew _ he was coming today, and it was perfect ‘cause I didn’t have to work, but then I got called in for this theft case. Shit, Nanako must be waiting for me at home, wondering what the hell’s taking me so long. And my sister trusted me to do this, she confided  _ her son  _ in me! I need to be at the train station, but instead I’m here, stranded in this… weird place… I should’ve just left you on your own… But I couldn’t just stand by and watch you fall to your doom, could I?”

He stops in his tracks and glares at me. “Get up from the floor!” He yells.

“Uh, yes, sir!” I scramble to my feet. Dojima instantly gets in my face, and his familiar angry scowl is everything I see.

In the short time we’ve been together, I’ve already gotten to know him well, and I’d say that this expression is a… hm… a nine, in the Dojima Angry Scale. Which means he’s very angry. Then again, the lowest I’ve ever seen is a four, so… I guess Dojima is a pretty angry man in general.

“Listen, Adachi, I don’t know what the hell is going on or how you got us here, but you  _ have _ to _ get us out. _ I’m responsible for that kid!”

I chuckle nervously. “Relax, Dojima-san, getting anxious is gonna get you nowhere--”

“Don’t tell me to relax! This is  _ your _ fault! Hell, what am I going to tell him? Sorry, Yu, I’m sorry I was late and left you here waiting on your own at a train station in a town you don’t even know? My useless coworker pushed me inside a TV into some kind of delirious fog world and I almost died?”

I gasp. “Hey! I didn’t  _ push _ you in!”

_ “Well,  _ you pulled me in, same shit!” Dojima hisses through clenched teeth.

“I didn’t mean to! It was an accident!”

Dojima lets out a humorless laugh, runs his hand through his hair, and starts wandering around. “... Of all people, why did I get stuck with  _ you _ as a partner?”

“Ouch. That’s harsh, Dojima-san.”

“Yes. Yes it is!” He snaps. “And you know why? Because I have to be somewhere urgent to be right now and instead I’m stuck here with you!”

I grit my teeth. Man, this is getting annoying. Can’t he shut up for ten minutes? My head is throbbing, and if we’re destined to die here of starvation or something, the least I deserve after leading such a shitty life is a peaceful death, don’t you think? But, of course, he’s not willing to give me even that.

“Dojima-san, please keep your cool. We’re in no rush to get out of here.”

“No rush? No rush?! Are you deaf or do you not care about what I just told you?!”

“No, I heard you alright.” I sigh. “Okay, listen, let’s sort this out like adults… How old is your nephew?”

“Sixteen. But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Great!” I clap my hands together, with a huge mocking smile on my face. “He’s a teenager! I’m assuming he’s potty-trained and that he can feed himself and walk around and talk to people or make  _ a goddamn call _ if anything happens,  _ so,  _ that means, _ he can wait!” _

“I promised him I’d be there! He’s counting on me!”

He just accused me of being deaf, but seriously. Is he blind or something? Doesn’t he see we’re dealing with a  _ crisis _ here?!

I frantically gesture around us. “We have more important things to deal with!”

“Are you saying my nephew’s not important?!”

I shake my head in disapproval. “I can’t believe you’re more worried about your nephew who you probably haven’t seen in ten years than about your partner, who’s here right in front of you, trapped, confused, and in the exact same danger as you...”

Dojima frowns. “Oh, get off your fucking high horse, Adachi.”

“Listen, we wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t hit me on the head for no reason.” I lift my head. “So, _ please, _ control your temper for once! Geez!”

Shit. Why did I say that?

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit--

I blew it. I totally did it. I fucked everything up and finally broke Dojima. I thought I could keep my act for a bit longer, at least for a few months, but nope. It only took some weird ass expedition into the TV for me to drop my facade. But, in my defense…! The fog is messing with my mind. I feel weak and unable to form a coherent thought… Damn, this is awful.

Dojima clenches his fists and digs his nails into his skin. He tenses his hands so much I’m afraid it’s gonna leave a mark.

He starts speaking slowly, but with no less rage seeping through his voice. “You have  _ no idea _ how badly I want to punch you right now. But if I did, I’d just be proving your point. So, instead, I’m just going to stand here and wait for you to punch yourself.”

...

Well, uh… 

Um...

Obviously, he’s not thinking straight either. At least I’m not the only one… 

I squint at him sheepishly. “Haha… what? That doesn’t make any--”

“Hold on.” Dojima raises a hand, signalling me to stop. “Did you hear that?”

No…? Seriously, there’s nothing here besides us. Barring the oppressive white noise, I can’t hear anything. And if Dojima keeps screaming into my ear, soon, the only thing I’ll hear is ringing...

“Hear what?”

“You won’t hear it if you don’t shut up.”

I do as I am told. Like I always do, of course.

I stay quiet and pay attention to my surroundings, focusing on the background noise. It should be easy to distinguish any disturbances, considering that the noise has remained exactly the same since we arrived here. Speaking of which… For how long have we been here? I’ve completely lost track of time. We might’ve been trapped here for a few minutes or for a dozen of days, but somehow neither hypothesis is right and neither is wrong. It’s as if time was standing still… It feels weird.

I look at Dojima, who’s blowing puffs of his cigarette like it’s just another day of work, while he looks over both of his shoulders one after the other. Though he’s searching frantically and his hand is over his holster, his expression is surprisingly calm. Talk about a hard-boiled detective.

I consider asking him about the amount of time we’ve spent here, but… I probably should just keep watching out for any weird sounds unless I want to get scolded again.

I put my hand on my chin, flaunting the most clichéd thinking pose ever, and focus on the silence.

Hrm…

… Huh? What was that?

There was a gurgling noise just now, something that wasn’t quite animal but that wasn’t quite human either. Shit. I guess we’re not as alone as we thought.

Dojima turns around, takes out his gun, and aims. “Who’s there?!” He barks. “Step forward with your hands up where I can see them!”

The creature, whatever it is, replies with a deep growl. A silhouette, faint like a distant shadow, appears in front of Dojima. There’s more gurgling to both his left and his right side. Damn, how many of them are there and where exactly are they? Dojima seems just as confused as I am when we spot two more shadows -- no, four -- approaching through the fog. They seem too small to belong to a human being, unless someone was crawling on all fours. But if they were crawling, they wouldn’t be moving so fast...

Then the creatures come into view.

“Eww, what’s that?” I say, taking a step back.

_ They are moving piles of black goop with a blue mask. _ That’s literally it. What the actual fuck. Is this even reality anymore?

As if to mock Dojima, the piles of goop move and sprout arms with slimy hands, as they keep gurgling and sliding towards us.

“Freeze!” Dojima cocks his gun. “Or I’ll shoot!”

“I don’t think they understand our language, sir…”

The black goop starts stretching upwards and, before I know it, all of the creatures are slimmer and taller than both Dojima and I. The blue mask does a turn and curls in on itself, becoming a floating ball with swirly pink stripes. One after the other, the balls begin turning around to show that now have a huge mouth with fat red lips, rows of freaky human-like teeth, and a long black tongue that wobbles like jelly.

Dojima shoots. A pang of pain fires through my skull. My heartbeat reverberates in my ear loudly as every other sound is suddenly muffled.

My head burns and throbs with a splitting headache that darkens my sight and paralyzes my legs. Fuck, it hurts, it fucking hurts, make it stop, it hurts like  _ fucking hell _ \--

Dojima shoots again and again. “Dammit.” He mutters, and then he yells. “Adachi!”

I can’t move. I don’t have the strength to fight the pain coursing through my body. I groan and clutch my head with both hands, grabbing on tightly and tugging at my hair, gritting my teeth, squeezing my eyes shut, and trying not to cry out in pain.

I hear a deep voice echoing from inside me, from a part of myself that was always there but that I had never realized existed.  **_“I am thou, thou art I.”_ **

I whine and bite back a sob as the pain intensifies and,  _ fuck, _ my head is burning and, I swear I can’t take much more of this. I feel drops of sweat sliding down my cheeks.

“Adachi! Don’t just  _ stand _ there!” I hear a thump and a pained groan and I see Dojima falling over out of the corner of my eye. “Ow!”

I hear his gun falling and sliding away. He’s unprotected and the creatures are all zeroing in on him.

**_“Cease to avert thine eyes.”_ **

Another pang of pain sears through my head. I hold onto the echoes inside me for comfort. Ah... The voice is stern, but warm.

**_“Call forth what is within, and use thine power to wipe the filth off this rotten world!”_ **

Wipe the filth, huh…?

Very well. This should be fun.

I stop fighting back and embrace the presence rising up within me.

The headache dissipates and I breathe out. There’s something in my hand. It’s a blue card with a strange white and black logo that resembles the creatures’ masks. I flip it over and see it’s empty on the other side. The card starts radiating beams of a blinding white light that engulf my hand and, soon, everything around me.

Warm, blue flames spark up from the card and I can see a silhouette has appeared on it.

My... Persona…

I know what I have to do. I’ve never been more confident in my entire life.

I smile to myself. With a jerk of my arm, I crush the card under my fingers.

“Persona!” I scream, dragging the word as much as I can in a scream so loud and raspy that it could tear my throat apart, but damn if it isn’t liberating.

Sparks of white light shoot up in the air and the flames flourish, growing and multiplying until they envelop me and all I can see is blue. A wave of energy surges through me, restoring my body and making me feel young, strong, and, most of all, more powerful than ever before. The sensation reaches every inch of me, filling me with raw emotion, from my face, my arms, and my shoulders, to the tips of my toes.  _ Ohh yeah, _ this feels  _ good…! _ Orgasmic, even! Hmm~! This is certainly fun! Without turning around to check, I can sense my Persona materializing behind me as the blue flames start fading away.

My Persona… Haha… A part of me I wasn’t aware of until now. Isn’t that interesting?

“Adachi! What are you--?!” Dojima yells from the ground, but he stops in his tracks as he looks up at me in disbelief. His jaw drops. “... A… Adachi…?”

I smirk from ear to ear in wild satisfaction. “Cool, huh? Don’t worry, Dojima-san. Just sit back and watch me take ‘em all down.”

Just in time, the flying creatures lunge towards me.

Well, time to fight. I’m ready.

Let’s do this, Izanagi!


End file.
